*** Mili ***

“Well? I’m waiting.”

My muscles tensed.

Urthal Vath, a member of the Imperial Family, was standing in front of me, waiting for me to act.

Why were they here? Did someone tell them about my powers? Was it Betheren? Did someone else see me using them?

No. That didn’t matter. I don’t care how they got here. All that matters is what I do now.

So… what do I do?

Run? All of their guards were huge, comparable to Nephern and Sterthen. Even if I was on my own I’d barely make it to the treeline, not to mention Kene on my back. Running would just upset them, putting me in the worst case scenario.

Maybe I should-

“Is everything alright?” She spoke again, cutting me off mid-thought.

Logically, I could tell that there was nothing outright malicious about her tone, but every word felt like a stone falling on my shoulders, weighing me down and making me feel small. Crushing me into the ground.

“N-no. I j- I just wasn’t ex-expecting you. Wh-what brings you h-here?” I managed to slowly stutter out, fighting against the gravity of her presence.

The sound of metal scraping on metal. In perfect unison, the six guards drew their weapons, leveled them at me, and took up a defensive stance.

If I could have made my legs listen, I would have run in that moment, but I couldn’t will them to do anything other than shake.

“At ease, fools,” she spat out at them, prompting another quick snap back to attention. “We’re here because we need her help. She can’t do anything if you kill her.”

“W-what,” I reflexively asked, completely caught off guard by what she had just said. She let out an exasperated sigh.

“If you would just come inside like I asked, I could explain everything. My patience is wearing thin, so make your choice now. Are you going to hear my request or are you going to run and be cut down?”

If you put it like that, it was an easy choice.

I nodded silently and started to walk inside.

“Good choice.”

--- --- ---

Guisen, Paran, and Makat were all sitting at the kitchen table with another pair of guards standing behind them. I could see Arthen over in the corner, leaning against the wall with another pair of guards.

“Go set her down and take a seat,” Urthal Vath said, the commanding weight of her presence once again tearing through any attempts at a cordial attitude.

Kene was still asleep, worn out from her outburst, so I gently laid her down on her bed of furs next to the fire and sat in the final open chair which was already pointed away from the table. Urthal Vath stood directly in front of me.

I assumed she was going to start speaking, but instead, the room was filled with a familiar gentle glow. She was wreathed in a halo of light as she started to wave her hands in gentle swirling movements and the ground beneath us started to quake.

My heart stopped as I frantically looked around, trying to figure out what she was doing. Were they planning on killing us all regardless of what I did?

Then I noticed the floorboards underneath her feet starting to bulge upward. Something was pushing up from underneath, causing them to strain before snapping and splintering. Long, twisting roots crept out of the holes in the floor and started to writhe together and form a larger shape. They bundled into a single large mass that started to develop finer details as it pushed upward. It was…

A chair…

She made herself a chair. It might have been more accurate to call it a throne, given its size and the intricate decorations that the roots managed to make along its sides, but that didn’t change the fact that the whole display was just to give her somewhere to sit.

The glow faded and she strode over to her creation, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other.

“Well, now that we’re all comfortable, let's get down to business. You are a dark trader correct?”

I opened my mouth to answer immediately, but caught myself before I actually said anything. Being a dark trader was technically not legal in the Empire. A dark trader was just the name for people who ran caravans inside of the Helefiran. Only a handful, mostly expatriates from the Empire like dad, actually came into Anghelen to sell their goods because travel in and out of the Empire was forbidden.

Of course, because there were certain things you could only actually find in the Helefiran, Sun Lord Guinang decided to look the other way, so long as the dark traders didn’t draw too much attention to themselves.

In other words, I would be admitting to violating the Empire’s laws. If I did that-

“It appears you are still apprehensive about my presence,” she once again interrupted my silent pondering. How did she do that? Was she able to read my thoughts the way I could speak with Arthen? If that was true, did that mean she knew everything about me already?

“I’ll be up front about this: I’m not here to punish you or enforce the law. I have greater concerns to deal with right now. I will say, I’m not a fan of Guinang’s… relaxed style of maintaining order, but in this case it has worked to our advantage. So as long as you are honest with me, whatever you say here today, you won’t be punished for it. Just answer my question. Are you a dark trader?”

“Y-yes,” I carefully answered, still not entirely sure whether I should trust her or not.

“Good. I’m looking for a guide. Would you be able to serve in that role?”

“A guide? Into the Helefiran? Why do you need that?”

Another exasperated sigh.

“That much should be obvious. There was just an assault on our nation. I’m here to investigate the incident, assess the enemy forces and the level of threat they may or may not pose. The attack came from inside the Dark Forest and, as far as I can tell, any forces that survived must have retreated there. So, can you help me?”

“I mean… I should be able to, but I’m not sure what exactly you would need me for. You all seem perfectly well equipped for something like that.”

“I need to act quickly. I could almost certainly make due on my own if I had long enough, but by the time I got the information I needed it may very well be too late. I need someone who knows the lay of the land and how those savages behave to avoid any unexpected complications.”

“If that’s what you’re looking for, then I might not be of that much help. I know the forest pretty well, but I don’t really know anything about the people that carried out the attack.”

“You don’t? I had heard that the forest is crawling with Elves. I’m surprised you claim to not know about them. Especially considering,” she leaned forward, staring intently over my shoulder at Makat, “that you are living with one. Once again, I’m willing to overlook the fact that you’ve brought an Elf into our borders, but only so long as you are honest with me. You’d better not lie to me again, especially in such an obvious way.”

“Wait, I’m not lying! Makat had nothing to do with what happened. I don’t know what you heard, but the people that attacked Anghelen also attacked Magora villages on their way here.”

For the first time, I saw her brow furrow in surprise, but after a moment she sat back with a frown creeping across her face.

“It seems like you are telling the truth. Guinang didn’t include that detail in his report. From what I understand, you never reported that to him directly, did you? Did anyone take a formal statement from you regarding your experiences during the attack?”

“No… No. I don’t remember anything like that.”

“Figures,” she sighed with contempt, pinching the bridge of her nose. “This is why I hate coming this far west. Too descended to follow orders properly, but somehow not independent enough to actually think for themselves. Either way, this just means that I was right to find you. So, I hate repeating myself, but will you serve as my guide?”

“Uh… Sure, I suppose… I’m sorry, this whole thing is just so surreal, I’m still processing everything.”

“Well process faster. If you’ll accompany us, then it’s decided. Onto the next order of business: in order to avoid any other surprises, why don’t you go ahead and run me through what you saw on the night of the attack.”

--- --- ---

I quickly recounted the broad points of what I remembered from that night. As far as I could tell, she wasn’t actually interested in me specifically but I wanted to avoid going into too many specifics, in case I actually tipped her off to my powers. And, knowing about their troubled history with the Empire, I decided to skirt around Nephern and Sterthen as much as possible too.

With each passing detail about the Elves and the Giants, her face grew more and more frustrated.

“And you’re sure that the Elves that attacked were glowing,” she asked with a concerned look plastered across her face.

“Yes. Does that mean anything to you?”

“No, and that's what is troubling me. I brought the most comprehensive records from the previous war we fought with the Elves and I spent most of the journey here poring over them to get ready for this, but I haven’t seen anything like that. They did make use of a large number of ancient magics to try and combat us, some of which served to enhance their physicality, but nothing like what you’re describing. Either our records are seriously flawed or they have some sort of new weapon to use against us.”

Then she turned toward Arthen.

“Now, what about you?”

She stood and started striding over toward him. He was sitting down so she towered over him, but having seen him at his full height, her attempt at asserting dominance floundered - at least to me.

“What nation do you serve, what is your relation to the Elves, and where are your allies?”

He looked up at her intently, obviously catching the severity of her tone, before breaking away to look at me. Presumably for me to interpret, although there was no way I could do that right now. She caught his line of sight and followed it to me. I was able to catch a slight twitch in her eye. She seemed… irritated.

“I’m sorry, but he doesn’t speak Ang Perelan,” I quickly said, trying to quench whatever anger was brewing up inside of her.

“Is that so,” she said, her face freezing into a stoic mask, refusing to betray any other emotion. Still, I could feel the venom dripping from every word. “Well, then why is it looking at you?”

Why was she upset? Was it because she was being disregarded? How should I defuse this situation?

“I’ve been caring for him since we recovered him so he trusts me. We’ve managed to work out some basic gestures for communication and he relies on me to translate when other people talk to him, although it’s mostly just pointing. I haven’t been able to get any of the information you asked him about.”

“I see. Well, I suppose that if a savage can’t even speak then I can’t expect it to understand basic social hierarchy. What information have you managed to get out of it?”

“Uh, well, his name is Arthen’Fortheen, but he prefers to go by Arthen… and... that’s pretty much it…”

Everything else that I had gotten out of him was thanks to my powers.

“I wish I could have convinced Birtash to come now…” she muttered under her breath with another bitter sigh, barely loud enough for me to hear. “Fine. You said you found him at a campsite? Would you be able to guide me there?”

“Yeah, I still remember the way there. I was planning on taking him there anyway once he was recovered.”

“Very well. Then it’s settled; that will be our first stop. We need to leave as soon as possible, but I have a couple of other people I need to consult with before that. I want to try and find them now, but with how late it is that may not be possible. With that in mind, we’ll leave tomorrow at midday to make sure I have time. Be ready by noon.”

“Tomorrow?!”

“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”

“It’s just- That’s so soon. I have-”

I have what? I was going to say that I had responsibilities here, but did I anymore? There was my work with Kelaren, but nobody was in such a dire condition that they needed me specifically, and our work investigating the infection left over from the attack wasn’t really going anywhere.

Arthen and Paran were the only two that still really needed me, and even Arthen would be fine with time.

If I left, I wouldn’t be able to keep treating Paran.

“How long would we be gone? I’ll need to make preparations.”

“As long as we need to be. Don’t worry about supplies. I’ve already got someone putting everything we’ll need together at the guild hall.”

So even she doesn’t know...

“Now, if you have no more questions, I really must be going. Those two should be out in the forest somewhere, so I don’t expect it to be easy to find them. Especially since they’re probably keeping their heads down after the attack.”

What?

No, she couldn’t mean…

“Are you looking for Nephern and Sterthen?”

A wide grin.

“Once again, I knew I was right to seek you out. Do you know where they are hiding? Can you lead me there?”

“What do you want from them?”

“The same thing I asked of you. They owe me a substantial debt, so I’ve come to collect by requesting their assistance in my investigation.”

She didn’t know…

“I’m… I… They were lost in the attack…”

“...”

“They helped defend Fort Heferal, but it seemed like the enemy forces focused in on them once they saw what a threat they posed.”

“...”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner.”

“You lied to me again.”

“No! I swear! I just didn’t think that they were important to you. Everybody in town seemed like they wanted to forget about the two of them, so I figured there was a reason.”

“... What happened to their bodies?”

I explained the situation. Sterthen was missing and Nephern had to be buried in the forest. When I explained that she was buried near the camp where I found Arthen, it seemed like Urthal Vath was relieved, although it was only a brief flicker of emotion across her otherwise somber face.

“And what of the child?”

Did she really not realize? My eyes drifted over to Kene, lying asleep next to the roaring fire, and she was able to follow my gaze.

“Me and Guisen promised the two of them that we would look after her…”

Urthal Vath stood and strode across the room toward the sleeping Kene.

The worst possible scenario flashed through my mind as I tried to stand and follow, but I still couldn’t shake off the heavy air holding me in place.

“S-stop! What do you want with her?”

She didn’t respond, continuing forward and reaching a hand out toward Kene’s sleeping face. My shout must have woken her up, as her eyes fluttered open, just in time for Urthal Vath’s fingers to make contact.

At least they should have, but someone had grabbed her wrist and was holding her back.

Arthen was standing beside her in an instant, faster than anyone had really had time to process. In a flash, the guards all moved as one, drawing their weapons and collapsing on Arthen. As swords swung down at his neck, Urthal Vath lifted a single finger and they all froze in place mid-swing. With another flick of her fingers, the two that were originally flanking Arthen stepped forward and pulled him off of her. He went easily, but I had spent enough time with him that I knew it wasn’t on purpose - he just didn’t have the strength to keep holding on. They pulled him back over to the corner and the rest of the guards returned to their posts.

Kene was looking up at Urthal Vath in a drowsy haze. She let her hand linger for a moment longer over Kene’s face, before she stood back up and started straightening her outfit that was disturbed by Arthen.

“Don’t worry. I was simply curious,” she said, completely without emotion as she turned to look at me. “I’ll overlook this transgression for now. You said you promised to look over her and promises are meant to be kept. This beast seems to serve you so I’ll consider it to be acting on your behalf, but if it forgets its place like that again I will also hold you responsible.”

I gulped and quietly nodded. Saying anything would just invite more problems.

“However, that matter aside, this does change things. If those two are… unavailable… then we don’t need to spare time consulting them. We’ll leave at dawn. I’ll return to Fort Heferal to rest and collect our supplies, then we shall rendezvous here at dawn. If you are the girl's protector, then it might be best if she comes with us too…”

“I-it might be too-”

“Too dangerous? That may be true. I’ll let you use your discretion. Now...”

She waved her hand and the guards moved as one, flanking her as she strode over toward the door.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

The door closed behind her with a sense of finality.